Pacific Gas and Electric is the largest utility in California, providing power to over 40% of the state. In the wake of the deadly wildfire seasons of the past two years, the company is facing bankruptcy.

In the aftermath of a climate disaster, survivors may recover physically but the mental health impacts can last for years to come. Psychiatrist Lise Van Susteren explains “solastalgia” and other aspects of climate anxiety.

Imagine if Exxon Mobil suddenly pledged to switch to 100% renewable energy by 2050. That’s essentially what just happened with Maersk, the world’s largest shipping company, when they announced their plan to go carbon neutral by 2050.

NBC’s Meet the Press recently took a stand by saying they’ll no longer give airtime to climate change denial. That’s a great first step, but we also need network news to spend more time talking about climate change in general. According to Media Matters research, in 2017 (the most recent year analyzed) CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox combined only showed 6 stories about the link between climate change and extreme weather.

There’s no way to store toxic coal waste that’s completely safe. There’s also no way to mine and burn coal that doesn’t threaten communities, our waterways and our climate. Duke Energy needs to stop burning coal, clean up its toxic mess, and invest in abundant, affordable clean energy sources like solar and wind.

Watch this poetic expedition between two islanders, one from the Marshall Islands and one from Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland), connecting their realities of melting glaciers and rising sea levels. Kathy Jetn̄il-Kijiner and Aka Niviâna use their poetry to showcase the linkages between their homelands in the face of climate change.

This is an invitation to take a few minutes to watch this film, unplug from your daily distractions, immerse yourself in the beauty of our shared home, and let the poetry heal.

What would it take for a town of people outside the Polish coal city of Katowice to turn against the fuel that drove the economy, culture and prosperity of the region? Welcome to Imielin, the town fighting for their homes and livelihoods against coal development on the doorstep of the COP24 climate talks.

Wildfires are raging across California once again, raising the question: Can wildfire season get any worse? Former firefighter Tom Swetnam has discovered a way to understand the future of fires by looking into the past.

We revisit our interview with Barack Obama from season 1 of Years of Living Dangerously in light of the environmental rollbacks enacted by the Trump administration. Thomas Friedman sat down with the then-President of the United States to discuss the world’s biggest problem, and the biggest way to solve it.

President Donald Trump may have told Lesley Stahl that he doesn’t know if humans are causing climate change, but that doesn’t change the fact that scientists do. Years of Living Dangerously sent Lesley to Greenland to meet with one, and see the impacts herself.

Communities most impacted by fossil fuels often are given no say in the kind of energy that powers their local communities. In Minneapolis, Shiloh Temple International Ministries, Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light, Masjid An-Nur, Cooperative Energy Futures, IPS Solar, and North Minneapolis came together to build this community solar project, which is a vivid example of how diverse communities are addressing their energy needs and paving the way for a sustainable renewable future for us all.

During a speech to the United Nations, France’s President Emmanuel Macron proposed an end to signing trade agreements with those who don’t comply with the Paris Agreement. Right now, the main target for such a measure is the United States.

The worst of climate change was supposed to be decades away, but the worlds top climate scientists just came out with the latest edition of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report saying it’s closer than we ever could have ever imagined.

John is a 28-year-old farmer, small business owner, and biodiesel producer from Wellsville, Ohio. He is the owner of Fall Creek Farm and previously held jobs in energy development. Growing up in Appalachia, John knows that renewable energy technologies could reinvigorate the local economy.

Big oil, the coal industry, and other climate polluters all have well-paid lobbyists who shell out millions of dollars to protect their interests. So who’s lobbying the government to take climate action? Meet Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL).

Their town has some of the worst air in America. Troy (35), Noé (20), and Justin (21) are students at Bakersfield College in California and the developers of the Kern Air Project. They’re also voters. Join them at BeAClimateVoter.org.

When you think about plastic and pollution, you probably picture discarded plastic ending up in the ocean or by the side of the highway. But plastic also contributes to air pollution and climate change, especially single-use plastic.

Bryn Bird is a 34-year-old military navy wife, mother, and co-owner of Bird’s Haven Farms, a family-owned farm in Granville, Ohio. Throughout her lifetime, she’s seen the impacts of climate change on the farm and is concerned about what farming will be like when her daughters are old enough to take over.

Dr. Marc Futernick is the medical director of his hospital’s emergency department. One of his biggest concerns is climate change, because of the surge of patients he sees when heatwaves hit. That’s why he’s a climate voter.

America is nearly halfway to meeting its Paris climate goals, but not because of President Donald Trump or the actions of his administration. Meet the coalition of cities, states and businesses that have picked up the mantle of climate leadership.

There’s a natural solution to climate change all around us, but we’re taking it for granted. Alec Baldwin and Dr. Jane Goodall explain why we can’t let forests be the forgotten solution.

Created in partnership with Jane Goodall Institute. Special thanks to the Mebêngôkre people of Brazil featured in this video. They are a tribe working to keep their forests safe from destruction, but like other indigenous groups protecting the forests, they’re lives and livelihoods are in peril from illegal and legal farming, logging, and gold mines in the Amazon.

Christian Acevedo is an 18-year-old Cuban and Puerto Rican-American resident of Miami. Right before the hurricane season last year, he went to Puerto Rico to visit and connect with relatives he had never met before. But once Hurricane Maria hit with devastating results, he didn’t hear from his family for three weeks.

Sarah Yi, originally from Hawaii, currently resides in Los Angeles. At Occidental College, she is the associate director of the Food Energy and Sustainability Team and is on the Public Relations Team. She strives to reduce her carbon footprint in every facet of her life, but knows that voting is the number one way to take climate action.

Delaney Reynolds is an 18-year-old marine biology student at the University of Miami. She is the Founder and CEO of The Sink or Swim Project, an educational and political advocacy organization that teaches kids in Miami about climate change.

Microsoft sunk one of its data centers to the bottom of the ocean, and it could help save the planet. How? The experiment, called Project Natick, aims to lower the amount of energy needed to cool the equipment.

President Donald Trump is replacing the Clean Power Plan with a dirty one that could result in the premature deaths of over a thousand Americans every year. He hopes his plan will help the coal industry, but it will worsen climate change.

Kilan Bishop is a 26-year-old PhD student at the University of Miami. She became engaged with environmental justice when she noticed there were not a lot of people of color at the forefront of the climate activist community, which motivated her to join the board of the City of Miami’s Sea Level Rise Committee.

Under the Trump Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency is rolling out a plan to upend auto-emissions standards across the nation. This new plan would allow cars to be less fuel efficient, permit more pollution, and cost consumers billions at the pump. That would be bad for our health and climate change.

The Supreme Court has ruled that the Trump Administration must face a group of kids suing the government over climate change. These young people argue the U.S. is depriving its young citizens of a stable future by willfully ignoring climate change and taking actions that worsen global warming.

The Emerald Isle is getting even greener! Ireland is becoming the first country in the world to divest from fossil fuels. They’re sending a message that it’s time to transition to a low-carbon economy.

On the day Scott Pruitt resigned from the Environmental Protection Agency, he handed a big giveaway to some of the biggest polluters on the road. In a memo, Pruitt announced the EPA will enforce a cap on how many glider kit trucks manufacturers can sell. This type of truck can pollute up to 55% more.

California has some of the most ambitious climate change goals in the U.S., in terms of greenhouse gas emissions reductions. The numbers are in, and the state just learn it hit its goal…four years ahead of schedule.

Pulitzer Prize-winner Thomas Friedman speaks to a wheat farmer in Kansas, the number one wheat producing state in the country. The farmer reports that a few years ago it was like somebody flicked a switch and his region began experiencing unprecedented heat and dryness.

Staten Island’s Republican Congressman Michael Grimm is a climate change skeptic. After much of his district was devastated by Superstorm Sandy, Chris Hayes seeks to understand when Grimm thinks climate change will become a policy priority.

Pulitzer Prize-winner Thomas L. Friedman sits down with a young Syrian refugee living in the U.S. She discusses her experience of the Syrian civil war and its relationship to the drought, which occurred four years before the revolution and represents the worst drought in Syria’s modern history.

Fossil fuel companies are some of the richest and most powerful in the world, thanks to their massive reserves of oil, coal and gas. But what happens when society realizes we can’t burn most of those reserves? Here’s why these companies should be worried about stranded assets.

As a Congressman, Jim Bridenstine spent years as a vocal climate change denier. It took him less than a month leading NASA to change his mind. He now believes the climate is changing and that human activity is playing a large part in causing it, and is determined to further understand the problem.

Antarctica is melting three times faster than it was just ten years ago, shedding 200 billions tons of ice into the oceans every year.

SOURCES:
[i] The New York Times. Antarctica Is Melting Three Times as Fast as a Decade Ago. Jun. 13. 2018.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/13/climate/antarctica-ice-melting-faster.html
[ii] The Washington Post. Antarctic ice loss has tripled in a decade. If that continues, we are in serious trouble. Jun. 13. 2018.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2018/06/13/antarctic-ice-loss-has-tripled-in-a-decade-if-that-continues-we-are-in-serious-trouble/?nor
[iii] Ibid
[iv] Ibid
[v] Smithsonian.com. Antarctic Ice Loss Has Tripled Over the Past Decade. Jun. 14. 2018.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/antarctic-ice-loss-has-tripled-over-past-decade-180969373/
[vi] Ibid
[vii] Ibid
[viii] The Washington Post. Antarctic ice loss has tripled in a decade. If that continues, we are in serious trouble. Jun. 13. 2018.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2018/06/13/antarctic-ice-loss-has-tripled-in-a-decade-if-that-continues-we-are-in-serious-trouble/?nor

Last year, Hurricane Irma cost farmers and ranchers hundred of millions in damages and losses. In some parts of the state 90 percent of crops were lost. Even if you don’t live in an area that gets directly hit by hurricanes, we all depend on a stable climate for our food.

It’s been nearly a year since Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico and power on some parts of the island still hasn’t been restored. But thanks to the power of solar, this school is lighting its halls and the path to a new future.

U.S. President Donald Trump wants to prop up fossil fuels, but his own government agencies keep reporting on the climate change threat. A newly obtained memo reveals one of his solutions: Just ignore them.

U.S. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is trying to make cars less fuel efficient. But California and 16 other states are stepping up to stop him, by suing the EPA to keep clean fuel efficiency standards.

U.S. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt testified to Congress to defend himself amid mounting allegations of waste, cronyism, and corruption. But his political scandals might not be the worst legacy Mr. Pruitt leaves behind.

In honor of Earth Day, the Global Catholic Climate Movement announced over 30 Catholic organizations from around the world are divesting from fossil fuels.

SOURCES:
[I] Interviews with The Global Catholic Climate Movement, April 2018
[II] Caritas. Who We Are. https://www.caritas.org/who-we-are/
[III] The Guardian. Catholic church to make record divestment from fossil fuels. Oct. 3. 2017.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/03/catholic-church-to-make-record-divestment-from-fossil-fuels

On July 21, 2018 young Americans are taking to the streets to fight for their futures. This is Zero Hour, because the time to act on climate is now. Will you join them? Go to thisiszerohour.org to learn more.

New Zealand has announced it will stop issuing permits for offshore oil and gas exploration. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the country is committed to the goal of becoming a net zero emissions economy by 2050.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke told a group of fossil fuel executives that wind power kills too many birds to be environmentally friendly. We put together a list of things that kill more birds than wind turbines to put that in perspective.

U.S. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is so cozy with the fossil fuel lobby, they’re basically living together. But his way-below-market apartment rental in D.C. is just the tip of his unethical spending iceberg.

Texas cotton farmer Kurtis Thomas is a lifelong Republican and evangelical Christian with some serious doubts about climate change. He meets with evangelical climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe and Don Cheadle to explain why and see if they can change his mind.

As President Donald Trump prepares to auction off huge swathes of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante National Monuments, new documents have come to light revealing the truth behind his decision to shrink them.

Before his death, Sudan, the last male Northern White Rhinoceros, was known as the loneliest animal on Earth. If we don’t stop our destructive practices before it’s too late, there will be plenty of animals ready to claim that title.

“They know they are killing people and they continue doing the same thing over and over,” says Arnold Schwarzenegger, one of the Executive Producers of Years of Living Dangerously. The fossil fuel industry has been hiding the truth about their product for years. That’s why he is suing to hold them accountable.

Protecting the Amazon Rainforest is one of the most powerful tools we have in the fight against climate change. But after years of conservation success, deforestation is on the rise again in Brazil. Gisele Bündchen heads into the forest to learn what’s going on and how we can stop it.

According to the U.S. Labor Department, clean energy jobs are among the fast-growing in the country. But these sectors could be growing even faster if Washington supported wind and solar as much as some other countries do.

President Donald Trump has called for a 72% cut in renewable and energy efficiency spending, which would seriously hinder the U.S.’s ability to keep up with cutting-edge energy technology. Will Congress approve this plan?

Leaders are rising to power in the US and Europe on a wave of anti-immigrant sentiment. They’ve called these migrants a lot of undue names, but they neglect one of the most accurate: victims of climate change.

Cape Town, South Africa is about to become the first major city in the world to run out of water. This #ClimateFacts video explains what that’s going to be like.

SOURCES:
[i] Time.com. Cape Town Is 90 Days Away From Running Out of Water. January 15th. 2018. http://time.com/5103259/cape-town-water-crisis/
[ii] ABCNews.go.com. Drought-stricken Cape Town, South Africa, could run out of water by April’s ‘day zero’. Jan 17th. 2018. http://abcnews.go.com/International/drought-stricken-cape-town-south-africa-run-water/story?id=52402170
[iii] Time.com. Cape Town Is 90 Days Away From Running Out of Water. January 15th. 2018. http://time.com/5103259/cape-town-water-crisis/
[iv] Ibid
[v] Ibid
[vi] ABCNews.go.com. Drought-stricken Cape Town, South Africa, could run out of water by April’s ‘day zero’. Jan 17th. 2018. http://abcnews.go.com/International/drought-stricken-cape-town-south-africa-run-water/story?id=52402170
[vii] Water.USGS.Gov.Water Questions & Answers How much water does the average person use at home per day? Dec 2nd. 2016. https://water.usgs.gov/edu/qa-home-percapita.html
[viii] Time.com. Cape Town Is 90 Days Away From Running Out of Water. January 15th. 2018. http://time.com/5103259/cape-town-water-crisis/

Designer Alice Min Soo Chun was inspired by origami to create a solar lantern that could be folded flat. Her invention, the SolarPuff, has already helped bring light to people around the world, from earthquake victims in Haiti to refugees from Syria. Now, it’s helping the many people in Puerto Rico who are still living without power after Hurricane Maria. SolarPuff offers a buy-one-give-one model, so you can get your own solar light to use yourself, and at the same time donate a light to someone in need. Or just donate.

President Donald Trump and Energy Secretary Rick Perry have been trying to engineer a multi-billion dollar bailout for big coal. But that plan just hit a major roadblock, and that’s welcome news for the climate.

President Trump and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke have announced plans to open up nearly all US waters to offshore drilling, raising widespread opposition on both sides of the aisle. What do you think?

Did you know that a growing number of American cities are powered by 100 percent renewable energy? This video, part of a new series in partnership with Climate Reality, shows that the country is becoming greener, cleaner, and more sustainable.

Climate change is the biggest global health threat of the 21st century.

SOURCES:
[i] The Lancet. The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: from 25 years of inaction to a global transformation for public health. Oct. 30, 2017
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)32464-9
[ii] Ibid.
[iii] NationalGeographic.com. By 2100, Deadly Heat May Threaten Majority of Humankind. June 19, 2017. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/06/heatwaves-climate-change-global-warming/
[iv] The Lancet. The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: from 25 years of inaction to a global transformation for public health. Oct. 30, 2017
[iv] Ibid.
[v] Ibid.
[vi] The Washington Post. Wheat, one of the world’s most important crops, is being threatened by climate change. Sept. 12, 2016
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/09/12/climate-change-is-really-bad-for-wheat-which-is-really-bad-for-us/?utm_term=.682ce0d6abb4
[vii] International Rice Research Institute. Rice and Climate Change. http://irri.org/news/hot-topics/rice-and-climate-change
[viii] Politico. The great nutrient collapse. September 13, 2017 http://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2017/09/13/food-nutrients-carbon-dioxide-000511
[ix] The Lancet. The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: from 25 years of inaction to a global transformation for public health. Oct. 30, 2017
[x] The Lancet. The Lancet Commission on pollution and health. October 19, 2017
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)32345-0
[xi] The Lancet. Managing the Health Effects of Climate Change. May 16, 2009
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(09)60935-1

One of the most effective ways to protect the world’s forests is by supporting the people who have been protecting them for generations. If we want to solve climate change, we have to support the land rights of indigenous peoples.

President Donald J. Trump has announced a new national security strategy for the United States, removing climate change from the list of global threats. Maybe he should have consulted with the U.S. Military first?

Congress is trying to sell off the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to pay for America’s latest round of tax cuts. But their math doesn’t add up, leaving the taxpayer short over $950 million, and one irreplaceable wilderness.

[iv] Bureau of Land Management. BLM Offers Largest Number of Tracts Ever for Oil and Gas Lease Sale Within the NPR-A https://www.blm.gov/press-release/blm-offers-largest-number-tracts-ever-oil-gas-lease-sale-within-npr
[v] Anchorage Daily News. Small bidders snatch up land near ANWR in state oil lease sale 12/07/17 https://www.adn.com/business-economy/energy/2017/12/06/small-bidders-snatch-up-land-near-anwr-in-state-lease-sale/
[vi] Center for American Progress. Arctic National Wildlife Refuge 101. 10/10/2017 https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/news/2017/10/10/440559/arctic-national-wildlife-refuge-101/
[vii]Slate. I Want My Oil Yesterday! Why It Takes So Long to Drill in Alaska 11/10/05
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2005/11/i_want_my_oil_yesterday.html
[viii] Center for American Progress. Arctic National Wildlife Refuge 101. 10/10/2017 https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/news/2017/10/10/440559/arctic-national-wildlife-refuge-101/
[ix] Ibid

The climate change denial movement didn’t happen by accident. We take you inside a secret meeting where powerful interests plan to make the biggest issue of our time one that politicians are afraid to talk about.

Protecting rainforests is one of our best tools to solve climate change, and there’s a plan that could make saving trees really pay. It’s called REDD, which stands for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation.

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman investigates the increasing population of climate refugees–migrants forced to leave their homes due to climate change–induced sea level rise, natural disasters and destroyed livelihoods.

Five years after Hurricane Sandy, some areas of New York and New Jersey are still recovering and some families will never be the same. Chris Hayes learns about the devastating toll of the storm, and one Congressman’s willingness to change his views on climate change.

Hurricane Sandy slammed into the Eastern Seaboard 5 years ago. Many areas are still recovering. But if we continue at our current pace, we’ll be setting ourselves up for Sandy-level flooding every 5 years. Is America prepared for that?

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, is a little known government agency, but it has tremendous power to determine how Americans get their power for years to come. And it’s and badly in need of reform. #WarOnOurKidsFuture #YEARSproject

Hurricane Maria has left Puerto Rico in ruins. An island, home to roughly 3.5 million people, without power. Tens of thousands at risk as the Guajataca Dam struggles to hold back floodwaters. This is the strongest storm to hit the island in a century, and climate change is setting the stage for more like it.

What happened in Houston is part of a much larger trend. One that began long before Hurricane Harvey and one that’s going to go on long after the cleanup is over. It’s time we recognized it, and planned accordingly.

Actor Bradley Whitford travels to the Florida Everglades to see for himself how climate change is causing problems right now. He learns how salt water, brought further inland by sea level rise, is punching holes in the marsh’s habitat and killing off mangroves. Meanwhile, barrier islands that have protected Florida’s coasts from hurricanes are also starting to disappear.

Texas and Louisiana have barely begun recovering from Harvey. Now Hurricane Irma is whipping through the Caribbean and barreling towards the Florida coast. Climate change and hurricanes are connected, and we need to be talking about it. We need to be acting.

In this YEARS OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY web exclusive, David Letterman sits down with the then-US Ambassador to India, Richard Verma, to learn how two of the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitters are working together to fight climate change. Since the video was filmed, the United States elected a new president, Donald J. Trump, who is putting important partnerships like these in jeopardy.

Actor Harrison Ford travels to Indonesia to learn how demand for palm oil in everyday products at the grocery at the driving massive deforestation. To learn more and take action, go to: https://www.ran.org/palm_oil